Country Could Deny Rapper Entry Over Antisemitism, Official Says

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A senior Australian government minister said Wednesday that rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, could be refused a visa due to antisemitic comments if he attempts to visit Australia.

Education Minister Jason Clare was responding to media reports that the U.S. celebrity intends to visit the family of new Australian partner Bianca Censori in Melbourne next week.

Clare said he did not know if Ye had applied for a visa but that Australia has previously refused them to people with antisemitic views. (Read more from “Country Could Deny Rapper Entry Over Antisemitism, Official Says” HERE)

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Pressure Grows on Germany to Authorize Tank Shipment to Break Ukraine War Stalemate

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Germany found itself under intense and growing pressure Sunday as the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz weighed whether to authorize the shipment of its coveted Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

U.S., Ukrainian and European officials urged Berlin to act after a summit Friday at the American military base in Ramstein, Germany, failed to nail down an agreement.

Ukraine says it needs some 300 Western tanks to bolster its forces against dug-in Russian troops in the eastern and southern parts of the country in the 11-month-old war. Both sides are preparing for further offensives when the weather allows.

An intelligence assessment of the fighting over the weekend from the British Defense Ministry described an increasingly deadlocked struggle in Ukraine’s Donbas region, with new Russian overall commander Sergei Shoigu reorganizing forces and apparently settling in for a long, grinding war of attrition.

Germany has balked at supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine or authorizing other European countries such as Poland to transfer their own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, in part because of divisions within Mr. Scholz’s coalition government and in part for fear that the move would prove too provocative to the Kremlin. (Read more from “Pressure Grows on Germany to Authorize Tank Shipment to Break Ukraine War Stalemate” HERE)

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Russian Leader Claims New Arms Package Will Likely Result in Nuclear War; Ukraine Defense Ministry Corrupt

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A close ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that delivering offensive weapons to Kyiv will lead to a world disaster by making arguments against using nuclear weapons untenable.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma — Russia’s lower house of parliament — warned that US and NATO support of Ukraine is pushing the world to a “terrible war”.

He singled out the delivery of longer range weapons that could hit Russian territory.

“If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,” Volodin said on Telegram. . .

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denied signing military contracts at inflated prices on Sunday, rejecting accusations of corruption in a country where embezzlement is rife. (Read more from “Russian Leader Claims New Arms Package Will Likely Results in Nuclear War; Ukraine Defense Ministry Corrupt” HERE)

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This Conservative Nation Just Passed a Law Requiring 30% Of All Leaders in Government and Private Industry to Be Women

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[L]awmakers [in Sierra Leone] voted unanimously to pass the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act in November. Now, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio has signed the bill into law, just five months before general elections.

The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act includes a legal requirement for all designated private and public bodies in the small West African nation to ensure at least 30% of their workforce is female. That ratio must be maintained across all levels within the organizations, with the legislation explicitly stating that 30% of leadership or decision-making roles must be set aside for women.

The act also specifies a 30% minimum quota of women for all elective and appointive positions in Sierra Leone’s government or public offices, along with the requirement that every government department has its own gender unit within its planning office. . .

Sierra Leone’s president, who is running for a second and final five-year term in office, took to Twitter on Thursday after signing the “landmark” law, saying in a series of posts that “REAL CHANGE has been ushered into our great nation.”

“The Bill will also revolutionise our government’s engagement with WOMEN – making them equal partners in our task to build a strong and vibrant country,” Bio tweeted. “Women’s rights are Human rights.” (Read more from “This Conservative Nation Just Passed a Law Requiring 30% Of All Leaders in Government and Private Industry to Be Women” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia Expresses Willingness to Trade In Other Currencies After Russia Announces Gold-Backed Stablecoin Project

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Days after Russia revealed its partnership with Iran in developing a gold-backed stablecoin that will be used for trade settlements, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed its interest in trading currencies other than fiat like the U.S. dollar.

The kingdom’s finance minister said Tuesday he has no issues talking about currencies used in trades as long as they would help improve global trade.

“There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the U.S. dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” Mohammed Al-Jadaan told Bloomberg, adding, “I don’t think we are waving away or ruling out any discussion that will help improve the trade around the world.”

Saudi Arabia has maintained a currency peg to the U.S. dollar for decades, and a new currency to settle its trades could mean it is exploring more relations with other countries like China, which is a crucial player in global trading.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia in 2022, it was discussed that China would purchase more oil from the Middle East and mentioned settling trade deals using yuan, the Chinese currency. (Read more from “Saudi Arabia Expresses Willingness to Trade In Other Currencies After Russia Announces Gold-Backed Stablecoin Project” HERE)

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Top Putin Ally Directly Threatens West With Nuclear Strikes if Russia Loses Ukraine War

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One of Putin’s closest allies has threatened to unleash nuclear war on the West if Russia is defeated in Ukraine.

Ex-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev made the warning to Nato leaders as he appeared to urge them to halt sending weapons to Zelensky’s troops.

He posted on Telegram: “The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war.

“Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends.

“And this should be obvious to anyone. Even a Western politician with any trace of intelligence.” (Read more from “Top Putin Ally Directly Threatens West With Nuclear Strikes if Russia Loses Ukraine War” HERE)

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Russia to Hold Mysterious U.N. Security Council Meeting on Ukraine

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A Russian envoy to the United Nations suggested Moscow would deliver a sharp riposte to criticism of its invasion of Ukraine and hold an informal meeting at the body to outline its stance.

The first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, took aim at the nature of U.N. discussions about the war in Ukraine in a Telegram post on January 12, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.

In it, Polyanskiy criticized how on January 13, “western sponsors of Ukraine” would hold a meeting “the exact topic of which they cannot even formulate.” He said that “once a month” U.N. members would push an “anti-Russian” slant during discussions about the war.

He then issued an ambiguous warning about upcoming U.N. meetings, writing, “I will not expand on what will happen in the Security Council at our suggestion in Ukraine at the beginning of next week.” (Read more from “Russia to Hold Mysterious U.N. Security Council Meeting on Ukraine” HERE)

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China and NATO Agree: Dangerous to Depend on Each Other

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China is vulnerable to international restrictions on its ability to import vital supplies “once the international situation changes,” a senior official fears.

“China has a high degree of foreign dependence on some important mineral resources, and once the international situation changes, it will certainly affect economic security or even national security,” Chinese Natural Resources Minister Wang Guanghua told state media, per a South China Morning Post translation.

The widespread sentiment has emerged as a paradoxical point of consensus between Beijing and Western capitals, in part due to Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping’s high-profile alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days before Russia launched the campaign to overthrow the Ukrainian government.

“It is dangerous to depend on authoritarian regimes. It was not long ago that many believed that buying gas from Russia was purely a commercial matter,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday at a Norwegian business conference. “We must not repeat this mistake with other authoritarian regimes, not least China.” (Read more from “China and NATO Agree: Dangerous to Depend on Each Other” HERE)

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Putin Declares a Cease Fire, Zelensky Gets Putin’s Terms for Peace

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. . .The Foreign Policy SmartSet® and Putin’s fellow travelers have been demanding negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. For negotiations to take place, there has to be something approaching good faith by both parties. That doesn’t exist. For instance, Turkish President Erdogan visualizes himself as a peacemaker in this war. The only high-level peace talks between Ukraine and Russia were held under Turkish sponsorship last Spring. . .

Vladimir Putin has ordered a 36-hour unilateral ceasefire in observance of Orthodox Christmas.

The Ukrainians aren’t big on the idea.

I doubt Ukraine will reciprocate because it doesn’t make sense to give the Russians a break. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of commentary like this pretending that Putin gives a rat’s butt about Christmas, peace, or Jesus Christ.

(Read more from “Putin Declares a Cease Fire, Zelensky Gets Putin’s Terms for Peace” HERE)

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Zelensky Signs New Anti-Press Law Allowing Him to Block News Websites

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A new law signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could give Ukraine’s government powers to block media outlets.

Zelenskyy signed the law on Thursday after Ukraine’s parliament passed it earlier in December, The New York Times reported. Lawmakers have touted the bill as an effort to bring Ukraine’s media laws closer to European Union standards as the country makes a bid to join the 27-member bloc. They have also argued that it will help counter Russian propaganda as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary.

But organizations representing journalists say the law will erode press freedoms in Ukraine. Under the law, Ukraine’s media regulator could block websites that are not registered with the government as news organizations, The Kyiv Independent reported on Friday.

The law is at odds with freedoms given to the press in other parts of Europe, the European Federation of Journalists said in a statement on Friday, according to the Times.

Ukrainian lawmakers have been considering a new law regulating the media since 2019, when Zelenskyy directed parliament to draft it. The version that Zelenskyy signed on Thursday is not as sweeping as a previous draft, which the Federation called “worthy of the worst authoritarian regimes.” (Read more from “Zelensky Signs New Anti-Press Law Allowing Him to Block News Websites” HERE)

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